State comes through with money to balance Sheriff's budget

Wednesday

May 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 30, 2007 at 8:28 PM

Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald got his money.

McDonald had asked the state for an additional $5.2 million to plug the holes in the department’s budget. Last week, he received $3.5 million and is expecting an additional $2 million today (Wednesday), for a total of $5.5 million in added funds.

According to department spokesman John Birtwell, the budget shortfalls are due to the rising costs of food and energy and a 3 percent raise for members of the five unions who work for the Sheriff’s Department.

Casey Meserve

Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald got his money.

McDonald had asked the state for an additional $5.2 million to plug the holes in the department’s budget. Last week, he received $3.5 million and is expecting an additional $2 million today (Wednesday), for a total of $5.5 million in added funds.

According to department spokesman John Birtwell, the budget shortfalls are due to the rising costs of food and energy and a 3 percent raise for members of the five unions who work for the Sheriff’s Department.

Last year the state’s County Finance Review Board approved a $55.3 million budget for the Sheriff’s Department for the fiscal year ending June 30. That budget was a 2 percent increase over the previous year’s budget. “Housing, lights, payroll, energy, nothing has had a growth rate of 2 percent or less,” Birtwell said.

According to Birtwell, it costs the department about $30,000 a year to care for each inmate. Other sheriff’s departments in the state spend $37,000 per inmate, and Massachusetts spends $47,000 per person at state prisons.

There are about 1,640 inmates in the Plymouth County Jail, about 450 of which are federal prisoners. The department receives federal funding for those inmates. Birtwell called that funding a source of income for the department.

Since fiscal year 2005, the cost of running the state’s 13 sheriff’s departments has increase significantly. The cost of fuel for vehicles is up 64.7 percent, fuel for buildings increased 53.13 percent, electricity rose 52.5 percent, and inmate healthcare costs are 23 percent higher, according to the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association.

Revenue from the Registry of Deeds has decreased significantly as the housing market in Massachusetts took a huge hit over the past year.

The Sheriff’s Department receives funding from three sources; deed excise taxes, state contributions and federal reimbursements

County Treasurer Tom O’Brien’s office is responsible for keeping tabs on the Sheriff Department’s budget, which is separate from the Plymouth County budget. O’Brien said the state needs to contribute more for the housing of inmates.

Birtwell admitted that McDonald, a Kingston Republican, has taken heat for asking for additional state funding each year. McDonald took office in January 2005 after making campaign promises of fiscal responsibility.

Birtwell argued that the department is much more fiscally responsible than it was under former Sheriff Joseph McDonough.

But, Birtwell added, 2005 was a tough year for the department. The Plymouth County Commissioners decided the Sheriff’s Department would have to increase its contribution to the county retirement fund by $1 million, and the pension board required another $1 million in health care for retirees.

“Before the first pitch thrown at Fenway, we were an additional $2 million behind the eight ball,” he said. The department was also facing about $2 million in legal costs when McDonald took office. With the hiring of two in-house lawyers, he explained, the department has lowered that debt to about $400,000.

Last year’s 3 percent raise for the five unions increased the budget by another million dollars. That was another cost Birtwell said the state did not take into account.

The department hired “about 21 floor officers” for the jail, he said, after retirements and position shifts. However, he added, “new blood” in the facility lowered some costs because new officers were hired at lower salaries than the senior officers who left. The Sheriff’s Department employs 518 people including those in administration, correctional officers, transportation officers and warehouse staff. There is about one correctional officer for every 12 inmates.

Birtwell said the Plymouth County Correctional Facility has the largest inmate population in New England.